Gardening Articles: Care :: Seeds & Propagation

Top Ten Veggies

by Charlie Nardozzi

Do you remember what new vegetable garden varieties you were growing in 1988? The most popular variety from our trial was 'Sweet Treat' yellow supersweet corn. It's still available. Of the approximately 150 varieties we've tested in 10 years, 85 percent are still available to home gardeners. They include 'Rosalita' red romaine, a showy, productive, and widely adapted lettuce that scored highest in our 1990 test; 'Viva Italia' tomato, a great-tasting (fresh or cooked) paste tomato that was the second most popular vegetable in 1992; 'Senorita' pepper, one of the mildest and largest jalapenos, a 1996 winner; and All-America Selections winners such as 'Big Beef' tomato, which gained our highest rating ever: 93 percent of the 1994 testers said they'd buy it.